DVD Review of Choke
A Story of Addiction and Redemption, Starring Sam Rockwell
© Cody Roy
Mar 1, 2009
Sam Rockwell is the independent film market’s Johnny Depp in that he, too, has made a career of tackling unpredictable, skewed characters. Consider his turn as the three-armed, solipsistic Zaphod Beeblebrox in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the schizophrenic game-show host/CIA agent Chuck Barris in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, or the crazed, sadistic serial killer “Wild Bill” Wharton in The Green Mile. Fearless or foolish, he lends every one of his films artistic street cred and gives each of his performances all he has.
Sam Rockwell: Sex Addict and Schemer
Rockwell’s latest performance in Choke is no exception. Writer/director Clark Gregg’s adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s (Fight Club) novel centers around sex addict Victor Mancini (Rockwell), who spends much of his time in group-therapy sessions; the only problem is that he usually sneaks out halfway through the meeting to hook up with the girl he sponsors. He and his best friend Denny (Brad William Henke), a compulsive masturbator, work as historical recreationists at an 18th-century colonialist theme park. And in his spare time, Victor pretends to choke in restaurants so that some good Samaritan will slap the Heimlich on him, his hope being that the rescuer’s subsequent sense of responsibility toward him will yield financial rewards.
Let’s Meet Mom (Anjelica Huston)
And it does. In fact, he makes enough to keep his mother (Anjelica Huston), who suffers from dementia, in a nice medical facility. Although she doesn’t recognize him anymore, Victor visits his mom quite often in hopes that he’ll somehow glean more information from her regarding his father, whom he’s never known. Whenever sexy Dr. Paige Marshall (Kelly Macdonald) arrives on the scene and is willing to help him with his search for the truth about his childhood, Victor realizes he must somehow see past his libido. The irony, though, is that Dr. Marshall’s plan makes good use of a sex addict. Not to mention that her research suggests Victor’s heritage might involve the Holy foreskin of Jesus.
Dark Comedy, or Not
Although Choke has all the makings of a dark comedy, it doesn’t work well as one. Sure, its witty dialogue has the audience laughing about sexual addiction, exploitation of common decency, dementia, and childhood abandonment, but the viewer never really identifies with the protagonist. It’s as though Victor is the physical embodiment of disaffection and cynical unreality, and nothing more. The little telling scenes were seemingly omitted, so there’s nothing to flesh him out. In fact, even his redemption appears cut short and bittersweet.
Rockwell and Huston do their best, but it isn’t enough to salvage this movie. In short, Choke is aptly titled, as the majority of it is difficult to swallow.
 |
